Torture of the Mind
by sugarcrazedninja
Summary: What started as a simple mission to recover a missing girl soon turned into a mission to keep his sanity. Shikamaru has been tortured, near to death, and his only hope was that someone would notice he was gone. R&R please, rating may change.
1. Chapter 1: The Mission

_Hello! So, this is my new fanfic, I hope you like it!_

**CHAPTER 1**

"Wait, wait, wait," Nara Shikamaru said, stopping Lady Tsunade mid-sentence as she explained his new mission. "So…I'm going on this mission…_alone_? Why?"

"Because, Shikamaru-kun, it's a simple mission," she smiled. "You aren't _afraid_, are you?"

Shikamaru gave a gruff sigh. "No, it just doesn't make sense. Why me?"

"Simple. The woman who asked for help said she wanted her daughter back. The daughter went missing about a week ago, and, even though this is a rescue mission, it seems only one man has been going after her. A one man mission would be just fine, and since you are a Jonin and all, you'll be fine. You could always call for backup if needed." Tsunade explained. Shikamaru gave another sigh, shook his head slowly and rubbed the back of his neck as he gave it some serious thought.

"It's not going to be troublesome, eh?" He asked somewhat uneasily.

"It'll be a simple job, don't worry," Tsunade nodded with a slight smile. Shikamaru stared at her intently, trying to see if what she said was true. After a short moment of the intent staring contest, he nodded.

"Sure, whatever," he said with a shrug.

"Good, I expect you to leave as soon as possible."

Shikamaru nodded and left, waving over his shoulders as he walked through the door. His eyebrows knit together as he thought about what kind of mission that was going to be. He didn't quiet understand why Tsunade would want just him to go, but it didn't matter now that he took the job. It was troublesome, though, and he was somewhat expecting Uzumaki Naruto to be outside the tower to ask about what his new mission would be about. But he wasn't there, not that it concerned him or anything. Although, as he made his way through Konohagakure, he did run into some familiar faces.

"Oi, Sakura-chan!" Shikamaru called when he saw the familiar pink haired, green eyes girl. Haruno Sakura looked over quickly and smiled.

"What's up, Shikamaru-kun?" she asked, walking over.

"Where's Naruto-kun?" he had to admit, he was curious as to where the hyper blond was. Normally he would see Naruto running around doing random odd-jobs, or training.

"I dunno, I haven't seen him in a while," Sakura mumbled, glancing around, like he would pop out of nowhere. Of course, that didn't happen.

"So what are you up to?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Nothing, just going on a mission…" he mumbled.

"Oh, good luck!" she said as they parted ways. He waved over his shoulder and continued on his way. Of course, he had to stop at home first to quickly gather up supplies, some weapons, and a few food and chakra pills, stuff like that. As soon as that was ready, he made his way to the gate, where Shizune, Tsunade's assistant, was waiting for him with the coordinates of where he needed to go. He took it, thanked her and hurried out. He heard Shizune's 'good luck' shout and, yet again, waved over his shoulder.

_Piece of cake…_he thought with a slight smirk.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It took about a day of traveling, but he finally made it to a small town surrounded by woods. The house he was looking for was on the edge, the only small, old and shabby home that was the closest to the trees. He hesitated before knocking three times, and waited. The three-story home looked like it was close to collapsing any moment, and from what he could tell, there was a vegetable garden in the backyard. The door opened a little and Shikamaru flashed his Konoha headband into the crack. The door opened so fast that it bounced off the wall with a loud bang and slammed closed again. The woman that was inside opened the door a little more gently the second time and let him in, her whole body shaking.

"Th…thank you f-for coming so s-soon!" she stammered. She was a middle aged woman with frizzy, graying brown hair had half of the strands in curlers. Her grey eyes were sagging and red, like she had been crying for days on end, and overall she looked very high strung.

"No problem," Shikamaru said as she led him into a grey room with old furniture that was either broken, or near to it.

"I-I have to ap-pologize, we are v-very poor in this town, a-and we c-cannot afford much," she stumbled over her own two feet as she headed for what looked like a couch. Shikamaru took the chair across from her, his knees bumping into the handmade coffee table as he sat down. The woman looked upset, like her place should have been nicer looking for when he came.

"My name is Nara Shikamaru. You are the mother of the daughter that was kidnapped, right?"

"Y-yes…" she said quietly. "My n-name is H-Haruhina Nishiko. It's n-nice t-to meet you."

"Likewise," Shikamaru nodded, his expression looking blank. "Do you have any idea where she is or who took her?"

Nishiko shook her head. "I have n-no idea where she would b-be…Suzuka-chan is a sweet g-g-girl, I don't know of a-anyone who would want to harm her…"

"No suspicious activity…or anything?" he asked, seeing that if he didn't get any leads the job would hit a dead end. After seeing this woman he felt a twinge of sadness and pity for this poor family. He waited as Nishiko thought back, an unnerving silence followed by some loud creaks as the house settled rested upon the room. He looked around at the pictures on the walls, seeing pictures of a younger Nishiko with a baby in her arms, and several pictures of a precious looking, beautiful girl that must have been Suzuka.

"W-well…" Shikamaru looked over at her quickly. "There…there w-was this…new boy…n-nobody ever moves here, you s-see. He had…a…strange…o-obsession with Suzuka-chan. He d-disappeared b-before Suzuka-chan w-went m-missing…" Nishiko let out a choking sob, but no tears fell. She had used them up several days ago. Shikamaru's hard expression softened as he watched her try and calm down. Feeling useless, he got up and moved to sit next to her. He awkwardly patted her back and sat there for a moment.

"It'll be ok, Nishiko-san," he said. "I promise I will get her back, if that's the last thing I do." Nishiko looked at him with wide eyes, and a thankful look on her face.

"o-oh…thank you, thank y-you so much…!" she said, her eyes finally tearing up. But not sad tears, they were grateful, relieved tears of joy. Shikamaru nodded, stood up and looked around.

"I'll get right to it then."

"Wait!"

Shikamaru looked down at her, his eyebrows arched into a curious look.

"Y-you should rest first, I-I'll make you something to eat," Nishiko offered with a small smile. He couldn't refuse, and he was pretty tired.

"…fine," he smirked. She smiled even more and left the room to make him something to eat as he sat down again. He let out a muffled yawn and looked around once more, his eyes automatically drifting to the pictures once more.

_Please review!_


	2. Chapter 2: Searching for Answers

_**Thanks to **_**Nigtalea**_**,**_**Boycrazydemon**_**, **_**and ****alexiel90**_** for my first reviews! I own nothing except the characters I have came up with. So, enjoy this new chapter!!**_

**CHAPTER 2**

Shikamaru had spent hours walking around the small, yet very populated town asking questions about this stranger that had moved in. All that he had found out so far was that he didn't talk to people, and if he did he would say very little. Shikamaru had gained nothing about where he came from or who exactly he was, but he did figure out that did slip up and tell someone, who luckily told Shikamaru, that he had a secret hide-out somewhere hidden in the trees. At one point one man told him where the boy had lived, and so many of the others he asked had asked him why he was asking in the first place. Shikamaru traveled over to the home the boy had lived in, which he apparently was stupid enough to leave the basement of the building locked, which meant that he was hiding something in there.

Shikamaru pulled out a kunai and started picking the lock as slowly and carefully as possible. It took him less than a minute to hear the click and opened the door, bit by bit. He looked in and saw that the room was big and very deep. The room let out a cold draft, along with a moldy smell. Shikamaru looked at the stone carved stairs and found a loose rock. He picked it up and tossed it down the stairs, letting it make as much noise as it could. No response. Nobody was down there, and if the girl was there she would have made some noise to let him know she was there.

He made his way down the stairs cautiously and fumbled for a light. He almost fell down the stairs when one step was steeper than the others. He found a switch, flipped it on and looked around quickly, looking for any sign of life. None whatsoever. But his chocolate colored eyes grew as wide as possible when he saw the many photos, drawings and eerie red writings decorating the walls, all of or about the same girl. Haruhina Suzuka.

_MUST HAVE HER_ was written everywhere. Shikamaru shuddered. He has dealt with many disturbing things, but nothing as disturbing as walking into a stalker's hideaway.

There was a desk at the farthest wall. Shikamaru walked over carefully, looking for any booby traps this creepy guy may have made. He fumbled with his fingers as he flipped through the sheets of paper all over the desk, looking for anything that would give him a clue as to where this guy may be. He found a key, a large, rusted gold colored key, which he fingered uneasily for a moment. He quickly looked anything with a lock, and found several locks on different drawers. He tried the key in each one, but none let the key fit. He searched quicker, looking as hard as he could. He finally had a lead on where Suzuka was, he couldn't let it end like this.

He grinned, relief sweeping over him as he found a chest hidden under the desk, where the lock matched the key. He shoved the key in and opened it quickly, revealing a hidden map, along with more pictures, but not all of them were of Suzuka.

"Lets see…" Shikamaru thought out loud, in a voice that was just barely audible. He unfolded the map quickly and saw it marked in several spots. There was a mark in the town he was in now, and several all over the forests, nowhere near any towns. _Hideouts…!_ Shikamaru thought hopefully. He still had an uneasy feeling about being in the building. He looked at other spots, and found one in Sunagakure, and oddly enough…one in Konoha…

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end when he heard a 'thumping' sound upstairs, like footsteps walking around the upper levels. Shikamaru snatched the chest, ran to the light switch and turned off the light. He waited, straining his ears for the footsteps. _Thump_…_thump, thump, thump_…The footsteps seemed to be moving away from the staircase. But…the boy should be gone. Who was upstairs?

Shikamaru pulled out several blades and made his way upstairs. He heard the footsteps, which were coming back to the stairs, but in long strides. "_MEEEEEOOOOOW_!" A large cat hissed when it saw Shikamaru in the stairway. He sighed with relief and watched as the cat went back to chasing the mouse, trying to pounce on it. Shikamaru quickly got out of the house and back to Nishiko's home, which she gladly let him use it as a temporary base of operations.

Nishiko was in the backyard gardening when Shikamaru let himself into the home, hurried upstairs to the guest room and threw the small chest onto the bed, letting the pictures spew out of the thing. He grabbed the pictures and looked at each one. One was of Suzuka, a big red X over her face, same with all the other photos. There was a picture of a girl with a Suna headband, several normal, non ninja looking girls, and even a guy or two, which gave Shikamaru the creeps, big time.

But what surprised him the most was that…

There was a picture of Naruto in the bunch.

Shikamaru dropped his picture quickly, and flipped through even more. He found more shinobi from his village, a lot of young students he didn't know. He couldn't believe how many pictures there were. He found more shinobi from Suna and his eyes widened when he saw Temari in the group as well.

_**Please review, and I will update soon!!**_


	3. Chapter 3: Captured

**YO! Thank you so much **_Nigtalea_**, **_Yume Ninja_**, **_alexia90_**,** **and **_boycrazydemon_** for reviewing! Glad ya'll like it so far!!! Here is the next chappy, hope you enjoy!**

**CHAPTER 3**

Shikamaru had left early that morning, without telling Nishiko. He didn't want to get her hopes up. Whoever this guy was, he was dangerous, he didn't know if he was going to be able to get Suzuka and every one else back. He had brought the chest along, obviously it had all the guys' secrets in it, and Shikamaru used the map to find the hideouts he foolishly marked. On the back of the pictures in the chest were names of the victims, and some random information written in a code that Shikamaru was not able to figure out at the moment. When he figured out that he had his friends, he became…nervous. Unlike his usual calm nature. He didn't want his friends to be hurt, and after seeing how hurt Nishiko was about her daughter, he couldn't let her down either. It was his job to get them back.

It was no time before he found the first hideout, the closest one. It was hidden under a grove of trees, which, of course, looked like a plain hide out for nerds who wanted to role play as a shinobi, or get away from bullies. Nobody was there, of course. Why would a stalker keep his victims so close to the town they got them from? Shikamaru hurried through the forest and to the second lair. He was hoping that he would find the lair they were all hidden in fast. Thoughts of what that creeper would do to his friends raced through his mind, and he made his way through the forest faster. They could be hurt, dead, or near to it, he couldn't stand those thoughts.

_There…_! He skidded to a halt in front of a tree with a barely noticeable X carved into the bark, marking the entrance of the entrance. This guy, whoever he was, was not very smart. Either that, or he knew exactly what he was doing.

Shikamaru put his hand on the carved X and pressed all his weight into it. The door slid inward and opened automatically, and he stepped in. a moldy smell flew into his nose as he walked down the narrow staircase. He used the walls to keep himself from falling. It was dark in the bottom, and he got the same eerie feeling he had received in the basement of the guy's 'home'. He listened for any sign of movement. Nothing bigger than a mouse, or rat, was heard, so he called out. "OI!" His voice echoed around the large, high ceiling room. It was empty.

"Damn it."

He hurried back up the stairs and made his way to the next hideout. It didn't take as long as he thought to get to the third. Before he even got to the entrance, Shikamaru took out the map and looked around. He had marked which ones he had gone to, and from what he could tell, there was only two left to check, including this one.

He found the entrance way and opened the door. The stairway down wasn't as steep or narrow as the last one. Shikamaru opened the door and looked down. He looked around at the floor before entering, like he had done with the others. Nothing. He walked in cautiously and looked around once more. There was some light, very dim lighting, but lighting none the less. He pulled out a kunai and looked into the room the light was coming from. He took one step in and a loud alarm sounded. Shikamaru quickly looked at the ground and saw that he had stepped on a trip wire.

"Oh shit!" he yelled, turning to run out of the room. But as soon as Shikamaru turned around, he came face to face with a man with crazy, different colored eyes, one purple, one red, with strange markings all over his face, making him look insane. He grinned a malicious, pointed yellow toothed grin, and held up his hand with a strange item in it.

Shikamaru doubled over in pain as the man used his other hand to shove a blade deep into his stomach, and then passed out when he sprayed something in his face from the strange items in his other.

The last thing he heard before completely losing consciousness was an insane burst of cackling laughter.

**And cue dramatic music: dun, dun, DUN!!!! Please review!!!**


	4. Chapter 4: Greetings

**Hiya! Sorry it took so long to update this. Kinda slipped my mind, I guess. Well, here's chapter four. Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER 4**

"- - Maru-san…" Shikamaru's eyes tightened and eyebrows knit together. "Shikamaru-san…!" His eyes blinked open and found himself in musty smelling, thick aired, high ceiling room with a bright light shining in his eyes. The atmosphere felt like a weight that was pressed on his chest, making it hard to breathe. He rolled his head to the side groggily and saw familiar navy blue eyes staring down at him, concern lighting them up. Sandy blond hair flapped into the smooth face, and bruises decorated the tan skin.

"Oh, thank God you're awake, Shika-san!" Temari said, relief flooding through her body. Shikamaru sat up and looked at her, looking slightly dazed.

"…Temari-san?" he asked, blinking a few times, trying to focus in the light of the room. Temari gave a soft smile.

"Are you ok?" he asked noticing her bloody lip, and what looked like a broken nose. He looked at her arms and saw the many, many bruises scattered on her limbs. Temari stared at him, looking like she didn't want to answer that question. Her hair was out of the usual four ponytails, so it just draped over her shoulders lankly.

"Never mind me, how are _you_ feeling?" she asked, nodding down to his abdomen. Shikamaru looked down and saw that he was shirtless, and had a bandage wrapped around his stomach. It didn't even hurt, there were very small specks of blood scattered around the bandaging.

"I feel…fine…" he frowned, putting his hand over the blood speckled bandage. He remembered that the man stabbed him, and as soon as he remembered the face he jumped to his feet and grabbed Temari. He finally realized what was going on. "Where are we? Where's the guy?"

"Guy? H-he's in…the-" she pointed to the door behind him, but before she could finish explaining, Shikamaru interrupted.

"Where's Naruto?" he asked, his voice growing louder. Temari's face sank. Shikamaru's heart started to race as his mind processed everything that was going on around him. Where he was, who was there, he eventually started to notice other people in there, most of them on long metal tables, sleeping in a dreamless sleep, trying to regain energy.

"I…I don't know," the sand Kunoichi mumbled, looking at the tables with Shikamaru. "He took Naruto-kun and a whole bunch of other kids away…haven't seen them in a while." Shikamaru felt like his heart skipped a beat. For one thing, he was afraid for his friend, and for another, he had to admit, Temari was very cute when she was worried. He shook his head quickly, shaking the thought from his mind. _No, no, no, this is not the time nor place to be thinking things like that…_ he thought with a slightly embarrassed scowl.

"Is there a Haruhina Suzuka here?" Shikamaru said to the room. All the people that were awake looked over at him, and then pointed at one girl curled up in the corner farthest away from him. Shikamaru moved around Temari and hurried over to the cowering young thirteen-year-old.

She looked so different from the pictures he's seen of her. Her long, flowing, shinning brown hair was pulled out in parts, making it look matted, uneven, and oily. One of her brown eyes was swollen and bloodshot, her nose was broken like Temari's, and she had a split lip and several missing teeth. She moved farther into the corner when she saw Shikamaru hurrying over to her. She let out a low whimper when he stopped just a few feet ahead of her. Shikamaru's heart twisted as he saw her. She looked like a puppy somebody just felt like kicking in the ribs. He knelt down in front of her slowly, as to not startle her.

"Suzuka…?" he asked gently. She whimpered with a slight nod, hiding her face in her hands. Shikamaru inched closer, feeling everyone else watching him. "I'm Nara Shikamaru, your mother sent me to bring you back."

Suzuka looked up quickly, looking somewhat hopeful. She adjusted her position so that she was kneeling in front of him. Shikamaru was horrified to see that her left ankle was twisted in the completely wrong direction. Suzuka opened her mouth, but nothing more than a hoarse croak and a strained noise of some sorts came out.

"What have they done to you?" Shikamaru asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He felt a delicate touch on his shoulder, and he looked behind and saw Temari looking at him. Yet again, looking very concerned.

"She can't talk. This guy…he's somebody neither you nor I can beat. He tortures for the sake of torture. He made her scream so much she lost her voice," Temari said firmly. Shikamaru looked at the girl, and saw her nod.

"A hard-core sadist, eh?" Shikamaru sighed, standing up again.

"Yes. You're lucky, I guess, he likes his new experiments to start out uninjured. That's why you are completely healed."

Shikamaru felt the bandage again and growled. This man was insane; he was torturing people for his own fun and games.

"What has he done to you?" he asked, looking at Temari again. She turned away and moved to an empty table substituted for a bed. Supposedly it was hers. "Temari-san…! _What has he done_?" Shikamaru practically yelled. He felt like he was going to go into a complete frenzy. Temari ignored him, obviously not wanting to talk about it. "TEMARI!" She turned to him quickly, very shocked. "I just want to help!" he sounded desperate. He waited, but when she refused to say anything, he went back to the table he woke up in. Her eyes followed him around the room. Temari sighed slowly, debating whether or not to tell him. It felt like hours went by in silence, but he couldn't tell.

"He did a lot," she finally spoke up. By his guess it must have been a long time before she decided too. Just about everyone in the room was asleep by then. Shikamaru looked over, curiosity written all over his face. "Some of the things I just don't want to talk about," she winced and she blinked small tears out of her eyes, and continued, "He hurt me, Shika-san."

Shikamaru noticed how different she was acting then when he last saw her. "Temari-san, did he force himself on you?" he asked unwaveringly. Temari stared for a moment, and then nodded silently.

"He has to all the girls," she mumbled, looking at the ground. Shikamaru knit his eyebrows together and looked at the other kids, and Suzuka in the corner. "He likes her the most. You can tell."

"…yeah…" Shikamaru said sadly. "I have to get everyone out of here."

"Why you?" Temari asked.

"It's my mission. And I promised that this one will be a success," he said, referring to the promise he gave Tsunade after his mission to retrieve Sasuke failed. "I am going to get everyone out safely," he said again.

"_Big words for such a weak boy_," a creepy voice sent a chill up Shikamaru's spine as it came from directly behind him. He saw Temari flinch when he watched her look at the man behind him. Shikamaru turned around, very slowly, trying to remain calm. There he was, the man that captured him.

"_Aaah…_" he grinned, his multi-colored eyes squinting as he looked at Shikamaru. "_Don't worry; I'm not here for you today. I get you tomorrow._" Shikamaru shivered and watched as he walked over and grabbed Suzuka viciously, pulling her up against her will and dragging her out of the room. She looked like she was screaming, but no sound came out. Shikamaru was going to chase after them, but Temari jumped to her feet and held him back.

"Do _NOT_ follow them out!" she hissed in his ear. "He will hurt you!"

"I don't care! I'm bringing her back sooner than later!" he snapped, breaking out of her grasp and rushing to the door. It was already closed and locked. A stainless steal door that slid open, only on the guys' command, ingenious for a base of operations. Nobody but him would be able to get in or out. But that wouldn't stop Shikamaru, but if only he was thinking straight. He didn't stop to think of a plan, a way to help, to get out, oh no. He crashed into the door, banging on it, yelling at the top of his lungs. This place was already getting to him, he couldn't stand it.

Temari and several others had to grab him and pull him away, knowing he wouldn't stop. They, although they didn't know him very well, didn't want him to get into trouble. Obviously Shikamaru struck an interest in the man, or else he would have left him to die instead of heal him. They pulled him away from the door and Temari smacked him as hard as she could on the back of the head, so hard he saw colorful fireworks on the door, where he was intently staring, trying to get out of their grasp.

"Calm down idiot!" she ordered, her old attitude back for that brief moment.


End file.
